Time of Day/Night: Dusk, 5th Cylus 718
Weapons: An oar and a quarterstaff.
Armor: Rags of a pauper + wool cloak
Weapons: An oar and a quarterstaff.
Armor: Rags of a pauper + wool cloak
Injuries: No
Illness: A bit of weariness
Illness: A bit of weariness
As a mariner who'd just arrived in Rharne, the first order of business for Rorom was to settle his knowledge of the local waterways. It was hard enough, given how he'd lost his sloop to an outstanding loan in Ne'Haer. Ordinarily, it may have taken half a dozen trials for him to chart the currents, coves, and general shape of the Lake and its adjoining river. He needed to figure out the best and most plentiful fishing spots, the places to avoid, and the territories of local Merfolk. As it was, he carried out these tasks with a simple rowboat and a little oil lantern hung at the end of a fishing pole to light his way through the dismal, dark season of Cylus. The weather had been kind enough that the sailor hadn't needed to invest in a canopy for his little skiff. The cold wasn't so bad for the first few days of the season, which made the going easier. He had soon discovered where nearest dwellings of Merfolk resided. Tribes of the deep folk often marked their presence with their fetishes and pictographs writ on trees and stones of small isles around the Eastern Shores of Lake Lovalus.j
Contrary to what one might presume, the more fearsome and violent the imagery of the fetishes and pictographs, the more peaceful the tribe. Like a frightened little dog with a big bark, these kinds of tribes wanted nothing more than to be left alone. The threatening imagery was their way of ensuring that their territories were not disturbed, so as to avoid conflict. The merfolk most worth worrying about were the ones who didn't make themselves known until you were taken by the launch of a coral javelin from beneath the water's surface.
Rorom paid silent homage to Chrien upon the discovery of her children, not crossing into their territory, but leaving small treasures of copper and silver nels in the water for them to find. It was good luck to send one's offerings of treasure to mer, but it also helped bridge the gap between the dangerous deep folk and fisherfolk. It served to signal that he didn't ply the edges of their territory as an act of greed or disrespect, but a necessity.
One oddity about the Lake stood out to Rorom, as he plied the banks of the large body of water. At its centre, toward the east, lay a small but descript isle that glowed with strange luminescence. Stranger still, creatures seemed to lurk beneath the waves around the isle, which also had a glow to themselves. Fellow travellers had warned Rorom away from this place, and he had no reason to doubt them. The creatures beneath the waves must have been large indeed for him to spot them from hundreds of meters off. Nevertheless, the isle was a blessing beneath the sunless, starless sky, giving him his bearings as he made his way around the lake to chart its bounds.
All that business was done. When it came time to set up his ferrying of passengers along Lake Lovalus, he would be ready.
Rorom spent much of his time between trips and tours around Lake Lovalus by weaving little trinkets made of shell and fishing twine. These shells, each of which had a mother-of-pearl shine on the concave inside of them, reflected light from up to fifty meters, sometimes more depending on the strength of the light. Rorom noticed it one night while he was at the beach, combing for these shells. Bearing a lantern atop his quarterstaff, he noted how the inside of these delicately formed shells reflected the light in such a way to make them visible to the naked eye from many paces away. Thus an idea of how to brave the Cylus nights on his dingy was formed.
He took his jewel-making kit, a simple hand-held manual drill that could be made to drive tiny holes into these shells. Then he set about making those indentations just wide enough that he could weave a line through them. He repeated this process many times, sometimes using some driftwood twigs to create a sort of chandelier of shells, weaving the line around the twig to widen it's span.
In the end, he was left with a rather attractive decoration, if he said so himself. It wasn't anything that was fit to grace the lair of a Monarch or Immortal, but still, it had a certain rustic, folksy charm.
With these little hanging ornaments, he rowed around the Lake, placing them up against certain landmarks that he would remember and recognize. A large boulder bearing the warnings of the local Loval mer nearby, to a great fir tree on the coasts of the outer banks of the lake.
He counted the leagues as he went along on his trip down river, and every hundred or so he set ashore to place these dangling ornaments. He went onwards, a little farther every night until he made it to the far reaches of Lovalus, near the meric territory.
Here, he gave a healthy offering to the waters of the shells he'd collected, as another peace offering to the mer who so graciously allowed him to sail upon their waters. As he made these offerings of both shell and fish flesh, he could sense their thoughts bubbling up to his own mind. Astonishment, joy, laughter, and satiety. Rorom was pleased that they enjoyed his gifts, and prayed that they did not seek anymore while he plied their waters.
The final step was made when he placed the last set of ornaments along the very reaches of Lovalus. A pair of twin fir trees, standing with their lower branches bare, allowing for him to tie a line between them. Through this line, he hung at least a half dozen of the reflective beacons. Thus he would know to stay away from the mer waters. He thought as much, and tried as well as he could to let those thoughts surface on his mind, so that the mer nearby would know his intention was not to intrude. As he climbed back into his boat, they seemed to have received the message, and bluemimed a wave and a nod.
Thus he pushed off with one of his oars from that shore, and went along the waters back toward where he'd come from.
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The next day, Rorom had finally gotten a passenger for his little voyage to come along. An Ilaren monk, who was looking for specific flora, "It's this shining blue mushroom." He confided in the fisherman. "You haven't seen one have you?""Hmm..." Rorom scratched his beard, "Hard to say. I've seen plenty of bluish glow around the ice floes rising to the surface of the lake, when it's shores freeze over. Mushrooms wouldn't be able to grow on that though, I would think..."
The monk's mood seemed to shift into excitement, but he kept his feelings well hidden enough that Rorom supposed it might be his imagination. "Ah yes, well, they do grow around the ice perhaps. We'll see."
Rorom shrugged, and then stepped into his boat, ushering the monk into it. The young lad was so light and scant of build, his weight barely disturbed the balance of the simple rowboat. As they pushed off, he got a distant look on his face, as if deep in meditation. It was just as well, Rorom preferred silence in certain company.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some breaks later, the rowboat sailed into the estuary between the river's mouth and the lake Lovalus. There, Rorom set up his lantern, lighting it and placing it on the quarterstaff at the prow of his dingy. The monk shifted in his seat as Rorom withdrew a shiny knife, at which the Biqaj chuckled, "Not for you or any intruders. This is a fairly quiet lake this time of year, although I do get a lot of requests to take out monks such as yourself. Wonder why...""The Ilaren's cap mushroom only grows in Cylus." Said the monk, pointing the way Rorom should go. Strangely, he was pointing toward a large sheet of ice on the shores of the central island.
Rorom shrugged, they were a few bits from getting there. In the meantime, he tried to get his bearings by reflecting the lantern light, and shining it toward those landmarks he'd, well, marked with an ornament.
Sure enough, the telltale prismatic sheen of mother of pearl gazed back at him through the darkness. He smiled at his success, and began rowing and navigating the lake with confidence, that they might retrieve that Ilaren's mushroom for his passenger.
EXPENSES
2 gn for an oil lantern
1 gn for 5 portions of lantern oil
200 gn for a rowboat
60 gn for a pair of oars
1 gn in little treasures and coppers/silvers left for the merfolk
Will update my ledger soon with all the latest info.
1 gn for 5 portions of lantern oil
200 gn for a rowboat
60 gn for a pair of oars
1 gn in little treasures and coppers/silvers left for the merfolk
Will update my ledger soon with all the latest info.
Knowledge Tracker
Cartography: Location: Waterways of Rharne's interior and lake Lovalus.
Jewelrycraft: Material: Mother of Pearl Shells
Design: Making ornaments from shells, fishing twine, and driftwood twigs.
Navigation: Orientation through the shining island in the middle of the lake.
Navigation: Seeing reflective ornaments through the gloom.
Navigation: Mark familiar sites to find your way.
Jewelrycraft: Material: Mother of Pearl Shells
Design: Making ornaments from shells, fishing twine, and driftwood twigs.
Navigation: Orientation through the shining island in the middle of the lake.
Navigation: Seeing reflective ornaments through the gloom.
Navigation: Mark familiar sites to find your way.
